‘Changed’ defendant curses out Albany judge

At his sentencing Monday in Albany County Court, Edward Fallen called himself a changed person from the gang-influenced criminal who terrorized two teenagers during an armed home invasion last year.

Then he received a sentence not to his liking — and called the judge some choice words.

“This is bull(expletive)! You let my co-defendant go!” said Fallen, 18, tearing into Judge Peter Lynch, the same judge who postponed Fallen’s sentencing last month so his family could visit him during the holidays at the Albany County jail.

On Monday, an angry Fallen told Lynch it was unfair he was denied youthful offender status, which would have wiped his record clean of the conviction for attempted burglary regardless of any punishment meted out. On Dec. 23, the judge granted the status for Nizere Stevens, then 16, a co-defendant of Fallen.

“This is some (expletive) bull(expletive)!” Fallen roared as police escorted him from court.

On May 23, Fallen was one of three intruders who robbed a home on Clinton Avenue as two 15-year-old teenagers were on a couch watching television. Prosecutors said Fallen ransacked the home, stealing a television and the cellphones of the victims, among other items, as a third co-defendant, Shieer Leggett, 17, armed with a BB gun, held the victims at bay.

Leggett has been sentenced to five years in prison for attempted burglary, not as a youthful offender.

Fallen pleaded guilty Nov. 12 to attempted second-degree burglary. As he initially made his case to Lynch on Monday, Fallen read from a letter. He explained he grew up angry and misguided and “started doing dumb stuff” because he lacked a father figure after losing his father.

“I’m very sorry for the people I robbed. I’m sorry for what they went through. It was a mistake and I hope that they can forgive me for what I’ve done,” Fallen said. “I’m sorry for terrorizing them and putting them through something they should have never went through.”

Fallen said during seven months in jail since his arrest, “I have changed, learned and grew a lot,” adding, “This is not the life I want to be living forever. All my life I’ve been around gang members teaching me the wrong things instead of the right things. I never, ever wanted to be a gangster and grow up robbing people.”

Fallen said the home invasion was “all because I was trying to get some money to feed my family” and that he was drunk and high. He said he was “just with the wrong people at the wrong time” and had been “pressured by my co-defendants.”

Lynch said Fallen’s letter was “crafted as more of an excuse than really as a legitimate statement.” The judge said Fallen was a primary figure in the home invasion and was not pressured into it.